Assessment Methodology of Practical Configuration Management (CM) for Sustainable Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs)

Since the Fukushima accident in 2011, nuclear safety has emerged as a very important political and social issue. Under this circumstance, the importance of configuration management (CM) is emphasized in order to ensure the reliability and safety of facility. However, configuration management (CM) is still in its conceptual stage in the nuclear industry due to the ambiguity of CM definitions, insufficiency of CM procedures, paucity of computerized systems and lack of CM professionals. In an attempt to address this issue, a previous study proposed a comprehensive CM framework for nuclear power plants (NPPs) by comparing CM concepts in seven different industries where the CM is actively utilized. In order to facilitate the practical implementation of the conceptual framework, this paper proposes an assessment methodology for prioritizing the importance of CM application areas based on the physical subjects of NPP structures, systems, components (SSCs). The proposed methodology is composed of an ‘extended CM framework’ with further details and ‘evaluation criteria’ based on CM functions. This study developed an SSCs list by analyzing Design Control Document (DCD) of Westinghouse AP1000 and also identified evaluation criteria through an extensive literature review. The concept of CM in this study encompasses the entire NPP project life-cycle in order to promote the practical CM application. The results of case-study performed in this paper would provide the SSCs priorities and guidelines for practical configuration management (CM) for sustainable NPP facilities.